34 replies to this topic

[Albert]

The third company in the quest to describe all the NTSC 2600 games in our database is Parker Brothers.  They produced a fair number of games for a third-party, but the list isn't too bad.  You can view all of Parker Brothers titles in our database here:

Atari 2600 Games by Parker Brothers

The following is a list of Parker Brothers's 2600 games, and I will update this list as I accept contributions:

Descriptions Needed:

Action Force
Amidar
Frogger
Frogger II: Threeedeep!
G.I. Joe - Cobra Strike
Gyruss
James Bond 007
Lord of the Rings: Journey to Rivendell (needs gameplay description)
Montezuma's Revenge
Mr. Do!'s Castle
Popeye
Q*bert
Q*bert's Qubes
Reactor
Sky Skipper
Spider-Man
Star Wars: Death Star Battle
Star Wars: Ewok Adventure (needs gameplay description)
Star Wars: Jedi Arena
Star Wars: The Arcade Game
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Strawberry Shortcake Musical Matchups
Super Cobra
Tutankham

Completed:

None yet!

Some of these games may already have descriptions, but if you can improve upon them, by all means please do.  Please read this post before writing up any descriptions, and please post them to this thread so  I and others can comment on them and people can see which descriptions have already been written.  When you post a description, please let me know how you would like your entry to be attributed in the database.

..Al

[shadow460]

Amidar:

With an arcade port based loosely on Pac Man, Amidar consists of frantic maze action combined with a hearty dose of fun.

In every other stage, Amidar's charaters change.  first you play as a gorilla being chased by warriors, then you get to play a paintbrush followed by pigs!

The object is simple.  Run along the connected lines to turn them colors.  Once you've completed a square section, that section turns the same colors as the borders you made.
It's important to know that the 2600 port does not feature the pellets for your gorilla to gobble.  You just run along the lines as with the paint roller stages.

Five enemies chase you throughout the first three levels, and six chase you through the next three.  It's possible to start at level 4, thus having six enemies from there on out.
If you get cornered, Amidar lets you turn your enemies to shadows for one second up to three times per maze.  If you get brave, box in all four corner scetions to turn your enemies to chickens--then they are vulnerable!

Amidar may be the first game to have a set "random" pattern to enemy movements.  Pac Man, of course, features patterns for the ghosts, but they are set.
In Amidar, all but one enemy must turn at each conrner it comes to.  you can run directly toward your enemies without fear, as long as ther'es a corner in between you.
The lat enemy runs faster than the rest, and simply follows the outside of the playfield in a clockwise motion.

Amidar was later copied by Froggo and the name changed to Spiderdroid.

Side note (not part of description) In my first time of playing this game, my daddy held me up to the arcade version at a family operated swimming pool.  It was a lot of fun!

/anecdote

Someone help me out with Sky Skipper.  I played it senseless, but forgot too mcuh about it...

Reactor:

If it's a game project was to spew out even more hard rock music than Gottlieb's arcade Reactor, this well done cartridge would be the result.

The game takes place in an atom smasher, and your job is to do the smashing.  Bump the particles into walls to break them apart.  Each collision pushes your ship and the particle around.  A shield is always active to protect you, so you don't have to activate it every so often like the arcade.  Try to avoid getting smashed into walls yourself, though, as it destroys your ship.
Knock out control rods too cool (and shrink) the reactor's core, or knock particles into the bonus chambers for extra points.  When the action gets too fierce, drop a decoy and the particles will chase it instead.  If you hit the wall, your ship is destroyed and all bonus points are awarded.

Once things get down to the wire, you have just enough room for your ship to pass in between the core and the chamber walls.  After eight stages, the solid core becomes a swirling vortex that will draw you inside even faster than its arcade counterpart.  On top of that, the bonus chambers change location completely (instead of just closing), making it dangerous to attempt flying or bumping paritcles into them.  No, hanging out in the bonus chamber is not a good idea anymore.

This is a little less intense than the arcade, and your shield is always on.  To balance the intensity, the particles do not destroy themselves as often, and the vortex core is much more lethal.

Happily, the Atari's Track Ball should work as well here as it does with Centipede.

Edited by shadow460, Tue Jul 26, 2005 4:07 PM.

[LarcenTyler]

Tutankham
Tutankham puts you in the boots of an intrepid explorer who is exploring the tombs of the great King Tut.  You must guide your explorer through numerous mazes while avoiding various deadly creatures such as spiders, scorpions, and snakes.  Pushing left or right on the joystick while pressing the button will allow you to fire your gun at these creatures, while moving the joystick upwards and pressing the button will set off a flash grenade which destroys everything onscreen.  However, you only have a limited number of these grenades.  In each level, you must move through secret passages (which are noted by small squares in the walls) and gain the treasures before you can move to the next level.  It's a simple game in terms of concept, but the difficulty level is very high and poses a great challenge.


Montezuma's Revenge
Before there was Lara Croft, there was Panama Joe in Montezuma's Revenge, a unique game where you go through an aztec pyramid, trying to collect treasures while dodging enemy creatures and booby traps.  You can collect keys to open doors, but only certain colored keys will open certain doors.  You can also pick up daggers to use against some enemy creatures.  There is a scepter which will make you invulnerable against the enemies for a limited time as well.  The game is very deep and complex, in some ways similar to Pitfall!, yet it was released in 1984 during the Great Video Game Crash, so very few people were able to enjoy it.  It's truly a unique and fun game.


Q*Bert
Q*Bert is a well-done port of the arcade game of the same name, featuring everyone's favorite foul-mouthed (or foul-nosed?) creature.  The goal of Q*Bert is simple enough: You hop up and down on the blocks of a pyramid, changing them to a different color.  All the while, Whammy Balls, Coily the Snake, and other hazards are trying to get you.  Q*Bert can hop on a flying disc on the side of the pyramid and try to lure Coily to his death, and he can also pick up a Green Ball which makes him invulnerable for a short time.  At first you only need to jump on a block once, but later on you must jump on a block twice to get it to change to the appropriate color.  Eventually, you reach a point where the colors keep changing no matter how much you jump on them, making it even harder to get them to the color you need.  It's very simple but addictive and fun.

Edited by LarcenTyler, Sun Jul 24, 2005 3:26 PM.

[sdamon]

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
This is the first Star Wars video game created on any platform.  It is set during the battle on Hoth, which the player taking the role of Luke Skywalker as he fights the Imperial Walkers in his snowspeeder.  The Walkers can be destroyed by either hitting them with your blasters 50 times, or by hitting a "bomb hatch" which appears on the Walker's body from time to time.  The game is fun,  fast-paced, and has a larger number of variations for customizing the difficulty to the player's taste.  It was released alongside of Frogger as Parker Brother's first two releases for the 2600.  The game was programmed by Rex Bradford, who went on to program Star Wars: Jedi Arena and the unreleased Kabobber for Activision.

Star Wars: Jedi Arena
This second Star Wars game by Rex Bradford and Parker Brothers is somewhat weaker than their first release, The Empire Strikes Back.  Loosely based on the scene in the first movie where Luke Skywalker is practicing his lightsaber using a laser-firing remote, this game imagines an arena in which two lightsaber-wielding opponents face off with the remote floating in between them.  Both players are surrouneded by a sheild that must be penetrated piece by piece using shots from the remote.  The paddles are used for controlling your lightsaber as well as the angle of shots fired by the remote at your opponent.  As both the concept and the graphics are somewhat abstract, and the gameplay isn't all that exciting, Jedi Arena is one of the weaker Parker Brothers 2600 titles.

Frogger
Frogger was one of the best-selling games of the 2600's library.  It was based on the Sega arcade game and was one of the first two titles released by Parker Brothers, along with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.  Programmer Ed English (who later whent on to port Mr. Do and Roc N Rope for Coleco) did an excellent job of re-creating the gameplay of the original arcade game on the 2600, although the graphics were necessarily less accurate.  Starpath later created a second, more arcade-like 2600 version of this game for use with their Supercharger add-on product, which was legal as they sold their games on cassettes instead of cartridges.

Edited by sdamon, Mon Jul 25, 2005 8:55 AM.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

shadow460, on Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:17 PM, said:

Amidar was later copied by Froggo and the name changed to Spiderdroid.

Not "copied", "pirated" is the right term here.

[LarcenTyler]

sdamon, on Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:24 AM, said:

Star Wars: Jedi Arena
This second Star Wars game by Rex Bradford and Parker Brothers is somewhat weaker than their first release, The Empire Strikes Back.  Loosely based on the scene in the first movie where Luke Skywalker is practicing his lightsaber using a laser-firing remote, this game imagines an arena in which two lightsaber-wielding opponents face off with the remote floating in between them.  Both players are surrouneded by a sheild that must be penetrated piece by piece using shots from the remote.  The paddles are used for controlling your lightsaber as well as the angle of shots fired by the remote at your opponent.  As both the concept and the graphics are somewhat abstract, and the gameplay isn't all that exciting, Jedi Arena is one of the weaker Parker Brothers 2600 titles.

I can't believe I actually picked that instead of Pole Position!

At any rate, here's some more descriptions, just for the hell of it.


Sky Skipper
Sky Skipper is a rather unique game that was actually designed by Nintendo, before they went into the console business.  You are the pilot of an airplane who is given the task of rescuing animals who have been kidnapped by a mischievous gorilla.  In order to do this, you must drop a bomb on the gorilla, which will cause him to turn upside down and allow the animals to jump out of their cages in a manner similar to flashing sprites.  This only lasts for a few seconds, and once the gorilla recovers, the animals go back into their cages.  The gameplay sounds simple, but it is very difficult, since colliding with anything except for an animal causes you to lose a life.  Fortunately, the controls are very precise and allow you to fly with little difficulty.

Spider-Man
Spider-Man marks the webslinger's very first foray into the video game field, yet it turns out to be a mixed bag.  The Green Goblin has set up bombs on a high voltage tower atop a skyscraper, and it's up to Spider-Man to defuse them and save the day.  Of course, this won't be very easy, since there are numerous thugs inside the buildings waiting to ambush Spider-Man.  Spider-Man climbs the building by shooting his webbing and then climbing up.  He can also swing from side-to-side by shooting it diagonally.  He can swing into thugs to take them out and earn extra points.  However, if his webbing lands in a window, or it touches a thug, he'll begin falling.  The only way to save Spider-Man from being flattened is to shoot another webbing onto the skyscraper in order to save himself.  Spider-Man must also watch his web fluid, which acts as a timer of sorts, and can be restored by capturing thugs or disarming bombs.  However, the Green Goblin also has a Super Bomb ready to blow up the skyscraper if Spider-Man takes too long, and will cut his web if he tries to get past him.  If Spider-Man manages to disarm the Super Bomb, however, he'll earn a bonus and move onto another building.  The controls are rather unusual, but the gameplay is very unique.

Super Cobra
Super Cobra is a port of the arcade game made by Konami, where the objective is to fly your helicopter into enemy territory, destroying their missiles and blowing up their structures.  You can also bomb their fuel tanks and regain some fuel yourself.  The primary problem with this game is the fact that the controls are very unusual.  The fire button alternates between firing missiles and dropping bombs.  An easier solution would've been to tap the button to fire missiles, and hold it to drop bombs (similar to the Activision version of Commando.)  The graphics are also very bland and could've been done better, even for an Atari 2600 game.

Edited by LarcenTyler, Mon Jul 25, 2005 12:36 PM.

[sku_u]

Action Force

PAL title for G.I. Joe-Cobra Strike

[Albert]

sku_u, on Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:43 PM, said:

Action Force

PAL title for G.I. Joe-Cobra Strike

Yeah, I'll copy the GI Joe description to Action Force, with a note about it being the PAL version of GI Joe, once someone writes up a nice description for it.  

Btw, great work so far on all the Parker Brothers descriptions!  I'll try to get these up on the site tonight.

..Al

[LarcenTyler]

G.I. Joe - Cobra Strike
G.I. Joe - Cobra Strike is a unique game that, while seems to bear little resemblance to the actual line of toys and cartoons, posesses a unique style of gameplay.  A giant cobra is attacking the G.I. Joe base, attempting to use its weapons to capture new recruits as they run from the right side of the bottom of the screen to the left.  You control a moving shield in an effort to shield them from this, while firing shots at the cobra in an effort to destroy it.  You use the paddles to control your shield, and the button will fire shots.  While firing, you can steer the paddle to direct your shots.  Up to three people can play at once, with two players cooperating to defeat the cobra, one player attacking as the cobra with the other one defending, or two people defending the recruits and the third player attacking as the cobra.  It was one of (if not the only) game that used both paddles and a joystick.


Star Wars: The Arcade Game
The title pretty much says what this game is: A port of the famous vector graphics arcade game by Atari to the Atari 2600.  The vector graphics, obviously, couldn't be used on the Atari 2600, so they had to make do with sprites instead.  You are piloting an X-Wing in an effort to destroy the Death Star before it can be fully completed by the evil Empire.  First, you take on TIE fighters as you approach the death star, then go on to shoot at tower turrets, before finally going into the trench and shooting enemy TIEs as you go for the exhaust port in an effort to launch the photon torpedo and blow up the Death Star.  The joystick controls feel a little awkward at first, since you are not only moving your cursor, but at times steering your ship as well.  In addition, the up and down are reversed to give it more of a flight simulation feel, which can also feel weird with the cursor.  Still, aside from that, it's still a great port of the arcade game.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

I'm back from camping over the weekend, so into more descriptions.

Reactor

Reactor is a very interesting game, where you control a ship inside a nuclear reactor and it's your objective to keep the core from melting down. This is certainly not an easy task as touching any of the walls will cause a meltdown and you are constantly being attacked by three or four nuclear particles who will try their best to push you into the walls. Luckily you have 3 'decoys' which you can deploy to temporarily keep the particles off you back. You can also use the decoys to lure the particles into one of the two bonus chambers at the bottom of the screen. If you trap a particle into one of the chambers, you gain 15 bonus points each time it touches the wall. It will stay there until it either escapes or is destroyed. To keep the core size down there are four control rods on the left and right walls. By pushing the particles into the rods it will help reduce the size of the core until you have taken care of all eight rods. It also will destroy the particles once you knock them into the wall. Once all eight control rods are down, you progress to the next level, which progressively gets harder. After level 3 the center of the screen will change from solid to a vortex that will destroy your ship by touching it.  While the graphics aren't anything to shout about in Reactor, the music is very good and the control is fluid (sometimes it is too fluid, but after you get used to it the game becomes more enjoyable). Reactor is based on the arcade game of the same name which was programmed by Tim Skelly.

EDIT: Whoops, I just barely caught the description of Reactor at the beginning of this thread. Sorry about that...so I'll throw in a review of Popeye

Popeye

Popeye and Bluto are at it again, trying their best to gain Olive Oyl's affection in this fun platform game. Your objective as Popeye is to get Olive Oyl's hearts or X's as they fall from above and you must do it before they reach the water at the bottom of the screen.  This is not made easy by the Bluto's constant pursuit and the Sea Hag throwing bottles at Popeye, but you can occasionally pick up a can a spinach to turn the tables on old Bluto which gives you a little rest. Fortunately all the gameplay from the arcade version is here, and it even includes all three screens from that version, although the graphics will not impress anyone. Popeye also includes music, good sound effects, and responsive controls and overall Popeye is a very fun and addicting game.

Edited by Shaggy the Atarian, Mon Jul 25, 2005 3:49 PM.

[shadow460]

Not a problem, Shaggy, 'cause the more info Albert has, the better he can make the description.

I don't know how much albert has played these games, but we're the ones who played them senseless.

Something to add, though, there is a bit of momentum in Reactor.  This is very notable when combined with the suction of the unshielded vortex core.

[shadow460]

After playing the arcade game, I edited the description of Reactor to include the differences.

In terms of difficulty, Gottlieb's version makes this one look like CandyLand.

Edited by shadow460, Tue Jul 26, 2005 4:08 PM.

[LarcenTyler]

Gyruss
Gyruss is an Atari 2600 port of the arcade game of the same name designed by Konami.  The most notable feature was how your ship would move around the edge of the screen in a circular motion as the enemies came at you from the center of the screen.  The objective was the defeat all the enemies so you could progress through the galaxy, passing planet after planet untill you eventually reached the Earth.  The rotation style gameplay is still intact, and even though the graphics are a bit crude, they still get the job done, which is very notable since in the arcade version, the player's ship had to be hand drawn in every angle and size.  The gameplay sounds simple, but it's actually very challenging and fun.

[sdamon]

Star Wars: Death Star Battle:
This Parkers Brothers Star Wars game is based on the final Death Star battle in Return of the Jedi.  The player controls the Millenium Falcon in two different stages.  In the first, the player simply destroys TIE fighters until a hole opens up in the shield that can be flown through.  In the second stage, the player tries to shoot through the body of the Death Star to hit it's central core.  Once this task is accomplished, there are a tense few moments in which the player must dodge fireballs as the space station explodes.  The shield looks quite nice (although it was invisible in the movie) and the starships all look more or less as they should.  Overall, this is a fun game that is a must-have for Star Wars fans.  

Frogger II: Three-Deep!:
While this is a sequel to the popular Sega arcade game, the gameplay was designed by Parker Brothers for the 2600 and various other game and computer systems of the time.  Like in the original game, the goal is to guide Frogger into his caves, but this time the caves are scattered throughout the river surface, underwater, and sky screens.  The game is colorful and fun, and worth seeking out for Frogger fans.  It was programmed by Mark Lesser, who also programmed the unreleased Lord of the Rings: Journey to Rivendell.

Mr. Do's Castle:
Originally programmed by Coleco, the game was licensed for release by Parker Brothers as Coleco had stopped publishing games for the 2600.  It would become one Parker Brothers' last releases and it is one of their rarest games.  Like in the arcade game, the player controls Mr. Do as he tries to rid his castle of unicorns by dropping floor blocks onto them.  By knocking out the three key blocks and then reaching the door at the top of the castle, Mr. Do can turn the unicorns into Bonus Letter unicorns.  Elimiating these unicorns to spell out "EXTRA" will earn the player an extra Mr. Do.  The game graphics are bad even by 2600 standards.  Combined with weak control, Mr. Do's Castle is hard to recommend to anyone other than hardcore collectors.

[LarcenTyler]

Q*Bert's Qubes
Another port of the arcade game with the same name, this time Q*Bert had more of a unique approach in that the qubes (sic) he would jump on would rotate, changing to a different color each time.  The goal was to line up four of the same colors in a row, which is easier said than done, given the fact that the playfields are shaped differently than the original playfields in the original Q*Bert.  In addition, you've got a plethora of various nasties out to get Q*Bert.  Also included in this version are bonus stages.  Unfortunately, Q*Bert's Qubes was only available through Sears and Hill's Department Stores, meaning it was hard to find as it was.  It was also released in 1984, during the Great Video Game Crash.  It's too bad, too, since the graphics are done very well for an Atari 2600 game, combined with the unique gameplay.


Strawberry Shortcake's Musical Matchup
Strawberry Shortcake's Musical Matchup was pretty much an effort to give girls a game that they could play.  The player would be given the task of matching up three parts of a character from the famous doll/cartoon series with head, torso, and legs.  When all three were matched, the character's name would appear on the bottom while they did a dance to their own unique theme.  If they were mixed up, a portion of the song specific to each character part would play.  There was the option to play freely to see who all the characters were and to see them dance (and create bizarre music combinations) and then there was a timed game where you tried to make as many matches as possible.  It's one of those games that were best suited for very young children.


James Bond 007
James Bond makes a unique appearance on the Atari 2600 by combining elements from three classic Bond movies.  While operating a vehicle that has the abilities of a car, airplane, and submarine, and equipped with some high-tech firepower, you must save the world from three classic Bond villains.  First, you must stop Serrafino and rescue Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever, which involves a ride through the desert and then going into the ocean, while dealing with enemy forces intent on stopping you.  Next, it's Moonraker, where you must prevent Hugo Drax from destroying the world so he can populate it with his own super race.  Finally, in The Spy Who Loved Me, you must stop Karl Stromberg from continuing to capture nuclear submarines, and rescue your fellow agent Anya Amasova from his clutches.  The gameplay seems simple enough, but there is a fair deal of variety in it, and the graphics are very nice too.  The game even gives you an agent rating after each game, with 006 being the highest on Novice, and 007 being the highest on Expert!

[Radio F Software]

LOTR
Gameplay Description:
Since the game is incomplete, there is not much to do. You begin with a map, and when you start the game you can walk forward, back, left, and right. There are two different walking areas. One is where you are the actual character (Frodo?) and the other is when you traverse forests or villiages as a smaller Frodo represented by a green square.

Pressing Fire on the first mode of play causes Frodo to turn grey as a series of sounds play, possibly to attack or defend. A bird will fly across the screen but does not effect Frodo, and pressing Fire has no effect on the bird. Pressing Fire on te second mode will bring up the map from the beginning and show where you are on it.

You do move forward on the map, as noted by the flashing black square. Time does pass on the game, the mountain scenery sky will change colors, and the play field will become darker. At night, the Ring Wraith? willcome on his horse and try to attack. Pressing Fire does not protect or attack, and he will harm you and send you back to the beginning.

SW: Ewok Adv
Star Wars: Ewok Adventure seems to be a nearly finished game. It is playable, and many features are implemented. You can begin the game by pressing Fire, and you have control over your ship (someone who knows the name please fill it in for me). Pressing Fire will shoot ammo around, and you can shoot at the oncoming Storm Troopers, [big walking things], and [smaller walking things].

It is difficult to tell altitude, and the ship will crash suddenly and make you start from a river, as an Ewok will run to the river [to save you?]. You do score points, and you can acellerate and decellerate. Your ship will run out of ammon (as noted by the number on the RIGHT of the HUD) and will reload periodically.

The center of your HUD also serves as a compass which will point you in the right direction if you stray too far off of the course.

I apologize for te Star Wars snippet, I know nothing of he series...

[Shawn Sr.]

STAR WARS: Ewok Adventure (Revenge Of The Jedi Game 1)

Also known in the ATARI community as Star Wars: Revenge Of The Jedi Game 1, as it was titled early in the games development and displayed as on prototype game boxes by Parker Bros., This nice little recration of the attack on the Death Star Shield Generator on the Planter Endor (Home Of The Ewoks) was quite well put together. You pilot your Ewok on his Kite as he throws stones at on comming Stomtroopers, AT-ST Walkers and Speeder Bikes. There is also fellow ewoks walking about on the ground that can be landed on for there generous gift of refilling your stone supply to throw at the enemy forces. The goal of this game is to comideer an enemy vehicle and drive it right into the base of the Sheild Generator to destroy it. Typical flight simulator controls in this game make it realistic and difficult at the same time. You must land on either an AT-ST or speedbike (hense taking control of it) to be able to acomplish your mission in this game of Distroying the Shiled Generator, witch the bottom of your screen will so helpfully direct you to if you waver off course. When you die in this game, Be it from crashing to the ground, Getting shot by the enemy or miss judging your oppenents vehicle when trying to take it from them (which results in a crash) you will be returned to the closest water stream the you have crossed before dying, Sometimes a fair distance from where you where, but better than starting from the begining for sure. As the levels progress the enemy begins to fire at you at a more agressive pace and by the 3rd level your Ewok Kite becomes much more difficult to hadle as "wind gusts" hinder your control of your Kite. Over all this unreleased game seems to be near complete and very enjoyable for any 2600 fan and even more so for those who favor Star Wars and those cute little guys and gals called the Ewoks!!

Edited by silver_surfer, Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:58 PM.

[A_Username]

Frogger

Play as everyone's favorite frog in his quest to cross the road, evade cars, pass  obstacles, and help himself and his fellow frogs make it away from the hustle and bustle of the city and off to the quiet and solitude of the pond.

[PressureCooker2600]

Popeye

Based on the ever-popular arcade game and cartoon character, Popeye for the Atari 2600 is a faithful conversion that stays true to the gameplay roots of the arcade game. You play as Popeye, who is constantly being chased by Bluto, and you have to gather enough hearts that Olive Oyl sends down to reach the next level. Each level gets harder but theres always the spinach, which let's Popeye knock Bluto out for a few seconds. Another Parker Bros. hit.

[2600Lives]

MONTEZUMA'S REVENGE

Move over Indiana Jones, there's a new guy in town! In this action/adventure game you take up the role of Panama Joe, the great explorer and adventurer. Joe's task is to find his way through multiple screens of mazes and danger and make it to Montezuma's treasure room alive. Along the way, he faces all sorts of enemies, such as snakes, spiders, and undead human skulls that are just dying to take him down. Joe starts off with no weapons, but if he can find a sword, he can turn the tables on those roaming nasties! Other tools that Joe can acquire along the way include the Torch (lights up dark rooms), the Amulet (freezes nearby enemies for a few seconds),  the Key (opens doors blocking Joe's path), and Jewels, which give Joe much needed points. Montezuma didn't want anybody stealing his treasure, though, so he placed all sorts of obstacles in his maze, which Joe must overcome. These include such insidious devices as conveyer belts that move Joe around against his will, and floors that disappear underneath Joe's feet. Of course, Joe can use his amazing jumping ability to navigate through all these dangers, and he can also climb ladders and slide down poles. Be careful, though. One wrong step can send Joe off the edge of a platform or into a fire pit, spelling his doom. Joe has 6 tries to reach his goal, and if you manage to reach the fabled Treasure Room, and collect your reward, the game starts over, only this time everything is harder! Montezuma's Revenge features several levels of platforming fun with varying difficulty levels. Test both your brain and your reflexes! Excellent graphics and sound make this an adventure you don't want to miss out on!

[2600Lives]

Just for reference, is this still going on? Just curious.

[Albert]

2600Lives, on Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:18 AM, said:

Just for reference, is this still going on? Just curious.

Yes, I need to start work on this again, thanks for the latest description.  

..Al

[2600Lives]

Let's see if we can't do a little better job on Frogger there...

FROGGER

You are Frogger, and you need to get home! Unfortunately for you, a myriad of obstacles stand in your way. Using your Atari joystick, guide Frogger to his home and rack up those points!

Frogger starts off at the bottom of the screen. The bottom half of his journey consists of crossing a busy highway. One touch from any of the vehicles means instant death for our hero, so be careful and time your hops. Once he manages to make his way across, while dodging speeding cars, trucks, and bulldozers, he reaches the safety of the riverside. Now Frogger must cross a dangerous river to get to his home. Remember, Frogger is an unusual frog, and he can't swim, so one jump in the water is deadly. Guide Frogger across zooming logs, lily pads, and turtles. Be careful, though! Some of those turtles like to take periodic dives underwater, and will take Frogger down to his doom if he doesn't jump off in time. Alligators also like to swim across the river. Frogger can jump on their tails, but he must avoid their open mouths.  Later on, deadly snakes like to sun themselves on the logs that you must cross. Avoid touching these, as they would love nothing more than a juicy frog snack! Snakes will also sometimes show up on the riverbank, so there will be no truly safe spot for Frogger at all!

Along the way across the river, Frogger can pick up some extra points if he is watchful. Occasionally, a Lady Frog will appear on the screen. If Frogger touches her, and escorts her back to his home, he can pick up some extra points. Speaking of his home, there are five holes at the top of the screen. These holes are where Frogger lives, and you must carefully guide him into them. From time to time a fly will appear in one of Frogger's homes. Jump onto these, and Frogger will not only get extra points, but a nice dinner as well! Careful, though. Alligators sometimes take up residence here, and Frogger will not be able to jump into the safety of his home if a 'Gator is currently there. If Frogger can manage to land in all five of his homes, the game goes to the next level, where everything moves faster, and it will be harder for Frogger to get home safely.

The bar that constantly decreases along the bottom of the screen is the "Time Bar". Frogger only has a limited amount of time to make it across to one of his homes. If time runs out, it's the same as if he jumps into the water, or is hit by a vehicle. Don't dawdle! Frogger is depending on you to get him home!

[LarcenTyler]

Will the old descs be used or are we going to take new ones instead?

[Gamera809]

Star Wars: Death Star Battle

Pilot the Millennium Falcon and destroy the Death Star!
The game starts you off in the middle of the screen. In front of you is a colored barrier which is supposed to be the "shield" and in the distance you can see the Death Star. The object of the game is to find a hole in the shield, fly through it, and destroy the Death Star. Sound easy? Well it's not, as soon as the game begins you are confronted by a group of TIE fighters which you can shoot down using the action button. You move around using the joystick looking for an opening and once one appears you have to be quick to get into it or else it will close up and you will have to wait until another one appears. Once you get through you appear in front of the Death Star which is being built by blocks that fly in from the top left and right corners of the screen. Now the goal here is to shoot at the Death Star until you can hit the orange block in the middle of the screen, which isn't that easy considering that there's a green block that moves back and forth shooting a laser at you which destroys you instantly. After you finally manage to hit the orange block the Death Star starts to blow up and debris start flying in every direction, the goal here is to avoid the debris long enough until the Death Star fully blows up. Once the Death Star blows up the game starts back at the beginning on a higher difficulty which ironically can also be selected as an alternate game mode.

Star Wars: Jedi Arena

Will you accept the challenge to become a Jedi Master?
The object of this game is to beat your opponent by winning three Jedi Knight matches. The layout of the game is like this, there are two halves of the screen, one blue and one red. You control the blue Jedi Knight while the computer(or another player) controls the red one. In the middle of the stage is a training seeker like the one seen in A New Hope. The object of the game is to block the incoming laser blots while at the same time telling the seeker to shoot at your opponent. As you are doing this the seeker will start to flash accompanied by a rumbling noise, this means that the seeker is about to go berserk and fire off random shots. If you do not defend yourself than you will take damage. Your health bar is actually a shield that is in front of your character and every time you are struck by a laser bolt a small chunk of it disappears. In order to win you have to blast a small hole in your opponents shield and hit them directly. Now this is where the game gets difficult, in order to aim you have to move the paddle which moves your lightsaber leaving you open to an attack from your opponent. This single aspect makes the game a real challenge especially while playing with two people.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Pilot your Snowspeeder and defend the Rebel Base from Attack!
The object of this game is to destroy as many imperial walkers as you can before they reach the generator at the end of the battlefield. The entire battlefield is about 8 TV screens long, a radar is placed at the bottom of the screen to show where all the imperial walkers are located. The game pretty straight forward, you fly your speeder to the right and shoot at the imperial walkers. It takes 48 hits to destroy one walker and the walkers go into five different color stages before they die. The stages are grey, purple,red, and finally yellow.  Once a walker is destroyed it flashes and disappears from the screen. Now the walkers can fire back at you and when you are hit your speeder takes damage. Your speeder can take 5 hits before it is destroyed but there is a way to replenish your health, if you land in one of the valleys at the bottom of the screen you can replenish your health up to two times. Also, if you can keep your snowspeeder alive for two minuets the Star Wars theme starts to play and you gain the power of "The Force" which will give you invincibility for a short amount of time. If you do happen to die than you have four extra snowspeeders to continue with but once these are used up it's Game Over.